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Alone, at last; are you ready?

Welcome to life after graduation from The Columbus School. So the question you have to ask yourself is “Are you prepared?” A great majority of seniors face fright and graduation anxiety; it’s the real world you’re going into; without the teachers and guardians you’ve had backing you up for 14 years. Memories, friends, comfort and everything you found stable in your life will change, but, these five steps are here to help you.

Network of Friends

Simon Echavarria, TCS alumni, shares his views of on the topic. Good relationships with people are extremely important. You will need all the help and support possible in challenging moments and friends will be there for you. Having a network of friends, meaning lots of them, will allow you to have many points of view, opinions, and basically every other positive aspect there is.

“About 50% of my friendships today, were made in college. My business partner and co-founder of D’Groupe was one of my best friends in school. Basically, your classmates and friends will be your future associates, bosses, partners, etc. Have strong relationships with everyone and you’ll be ok,” Echavarria, CEO of D’Groupe, and TCS alumni said.

Connections in college will allow you to find more opportunities that will make you a more complete professional. Friends are the ones who will show you different roads in life, and you are the one who decides to either take them or not.

Challenging yourself

Echavarria argues that challenging yourself will ultimately end up showing the best version of you. Now that you are in college, you will need to work twice as hard, or even harder. Like it was stated before, its real life you’re going into; it’s your future that you’re pathing. Challenging yourself and your limits will allow you to see a more “powerful” version of that amazing person who will do anything to succeed: you.

“I never realized what I was able to do until I challenged myself to try new things, meet new people, discover new places. Challenging myself was one of the best things I could’ve done, it changed my mentality and showed me this new level of my personality,” Echavarria said.

This idea of challenging ourselves leads us to the next step to success. Like Morgan Freeman says, “Challenge yourself; it’s the only path which leads to growth.”

Escape your comfort zone

That minuscule, figurative space that makes you feel safe and challenges you in the smallest ways possible, is called the comfort zone. Leaving this zone will show you a whole new world, full of possibilities and challenges. Sure, it will be hard, but it’s worth it.

“The comfort zone will limit you in every single way possible. Outside of your comfort zone, you will find your true self. The best things in life will never come easy, and those things are found outside of the comfort zone,” Martin Valencia, TCS alumni said.

“College will generally be the “challenging zone” for many TCS alumni. We come from a school that gives us everything we need, while college is far more independent,” Rita Parra, TCS alumni said.

If you are able to escape the mighty comfort zone you are one step closer to success. Its one of the hardest things to do now that we, humans, naturally have a mentality based on comfort; why change something that already works, right? The truth is, changing your comfort zone and being able to feel comfortable in a bigger metaphorical space is a huge jump.

Using the skills school gave you

“In my case, mathematical skills were the ones that helped me the most for college and my engineering career. But the school [TCS] gives us many skills others don’t, like an open-minded way of thinking, and the possibility of being global citizens,” Miguel Jaramillo Parra, TCS alumni said.

Utilizing those skills will surely give you an advantage over others. Being a global thinker will not only make you stand out, but it will also grant you many opportunities to meet new people from other cultures and get to know them; it´s an amazing experience that will enhance your knowledge of the world and will help you build a point of view about the purpose of life.

“When I graduated school I was terrified. I felt lost because I had no real meaning for the purpose of life. Meeting people from other parts of the world and traveling to new, distant places helped me and made me who I am today,” Echavarria said.

“You are alone in college. Sure there are also teachers, friends, and others who will help you, but the time has come to show the world what you are made of and prove others that you are ready to face real life,” Echavarria said.